Backstory

In fourth grade, I decided I was done playing piano and wanted to pick up a new instrument. I wanted to play something cool; an instrument I could join a band with. My dad played drums in his youth and we had a drum set in the house, so I was drawn towards the drums. I joined my elementary school’s orchestral music program and began playing snare drum.

A couple years later, I got more serious about drumming and got a private teacher. That year, I played drum set in a band with some friends at one or two school concerts and continued playing in the school’s orchestra.

At Harvard-Westlake, I continued playing in the orchestra and was the main drummer during the symphony’s back-to-back Heritage Festival Gold medals (we competed in Anaheim and Chicago’s renowned Orchestra Hall).

In tenth grade, I dropped classical music in favor of jazz; a genre of music I actually enjoyed! I joined the jazz program at school and participated in the Rhythm Section and Jazz Ensemble through my senior year. Playing drum set daily allowed me to improve over those three years and got me to the point where I can sit and just play with most music.

Recording

This summer, with my teacher and mentor Ray Mehlbaum, I’ve been working on preparing a selection of songs that represent my musical taste and drumming style that I could record at the end of summer. I picked three songs from long before my time; one blues, one rock, and one jazz fusion; each featuring amazing guitarists and drummers: “Red House” (Jimi Hendrix), “Sunshine of Your Love” (Cream), “Freeway Jam” (Jeff Beck). I played drums on and Marco Moir played guitar, bass, and keyboard on; sang; and mixed the following tracks.

Tracks

Thanks

Special thank you to my teacher and friend Ray Mehlbaum for helping me prepare and arranging the session and to Marco Moir, my amazingly talented musical partner and producer who worked tirelessly to get these tracks they way they are.